IR35 letters going out to GlaxoSmithKline contractors

[northernladuk]

Just went to lunch with a m8 who has a m8 at GSK. Reckons alot of contractors there are disguised employees who have been there for years.

But not to worry for the ones with IR35 insurance.

Yup. Type in contractor GSK in linked in and the first raft of people that come up are minimum 2 years, a few have 4 years under their belt.

[BrilloPad]

Yup. Type in contractor GSK in linked in and the first raft of people that come up are minimum 2 years, a few have 4 years under their belt.

I do hope Bagpuss has moved on. But after the incident with she who must not be named, I bet he has.....

[BABABlackSheep]

Just went to lunch with a m8 who has a m8 at GSK. Reckons alot of contractors there are disguised employees who have been there for years.

But not to worry for the ones with IR35 insurance.

It doesn't matter how long you are at the same organisation. Its all about your contract and your working practices. A lot of people mistakenly think the 2-year expenses rule is somehow IR35 related..its not.

You could have someone who's been at the same place 10 years "outside IR35" and someone who's been there 3 months inside.

All that happens if you keep renewing your contract for years on end, is that you are exposing yourself to a massive bill if you're found to be inside.

[jamesbrown]

It doesn't matter how long you are at the same organisation. Its all about your contract and your working practices. A lot of people mistakenly think the 2-year expenses rule is somehow IR35 related..its not.

You could have someone who's been at the same place 10 years "outside IR35" and someone who's been there 3 months inside.

All that happens if you keep renewing your contract for years on end, is that you are exposing yourself to a massive bill if you're found to be inside.

Largely agree, but you need to be very vigilant and collect evidence of ongoing status if you’re with a client for a long period. The risk, of course, is that you become part of the furniture and begin to act like a permie. But, yes, a temp covering a permie for a couple of months can be emphatically inside, just as a multi-year infrastructure contract for deliverables can have no D&C, MoO and support a valid RoS, so duration is a very weak indicator.

[northernladuk]

Largely agree, but you need to be very vigilant and collect evidence of ongoing status if you’re with a client for a long period. The risk, of course, is that you become part of the furniture and begin to act like a permie. But, yes, a temp covering a permie for a couple of months can be emphatically inside, just as a multi-year infrastructure contract for deliverables can have no D&C, MoO and support a valid RoS, so duration is a very weak indicator.

Totally agree. Technically correct but a very naive view. Remeber we have case law in this area. Jlj was a partial loss because the length of time he was there eroded his position.

We've a raft of posts on here with long term contractors not having a clue about Ir35 and we are going to see a hell of a lot more with GSK and others.

[BABABlackSheep]

Totally agree. Technically correct but a very naive view. Remeber we have case law in this area. Jlj was a partial loss because the length of time he was there eroded his position.

We've a raft of posts on here with long term contractors not having a clue about Ir35 and we are going to see a hell of a lot more with GSK and others.

As you can guess I'm a long term contractor and in the same organisation. Multiple locations and multiple contracts in different teams though.

Taken advice a number of times regarding contracts and always advised its purely contract and working practices.

Was Jlj in the same location and contract? I'll look it up now you've mentioned it(so thank you), but thought you might have the facts to hand.

[BlueSharp]

It doesn't matter how long you are at the same organisation. Its all about your contract and your working practices. A lot of people mistakenly think the 2-year expenses rule is somehow IR35 related..its not.

You could have someone who's been at the same place 10 years "outside IR35" and someone who's been there 3 months inside.

All that happens if you keep renewing your contract for years on end, is that you are exposing yourself to a massive bill if you're found to be inside.

Technically you're right, however part and parcel of an organisation has been used against contractors before.

[KinooOrKinog]

I've honestly never understood those contractors who stay at the same client for years on end. With contracting, part of the draw for me is moving on fairly frequently. Longest I've spent at one client I think is 16 months...

[jamesbrown]

As you can guess I'm a long term contractor and in the same organisation. Multiple locations and multiple contracts in different teams though.

Taken advice a number of times regarding contracts and always advised its purely contract and working practices.

Was Jlj in the same location and contract? I'll look it up now you've mentioned it(so thank you), but thought you might have the facts to hand.

Essentially, JLJ was a split decision because the WP changed. IR35 status is a time-series because WP are a time-series, both within and between contracts. There is no fixed state.

[jamesbrown]

I've honestly never understood those contractors who stay at the same client for years on end. With contracting, part of the draw for me is moving on fairly frequently. Longest I've spent at one client I think is 16 months...

I think it depends on the way you do business. For example, if you have 3-4 excellent clients that provide repeat work and you're delivering to them simultaneously (hence = variety), why would you stop? Makes no business sense. Too many people are driven by the IR35 tail.